Medieval Merchant's House Southampton Hampshire

This 13th century merchant's house is one of the few surviving medieval townhouses in England. The house has been restored to what it might have... more

by Terri Waters

Title

Medieval Merchant's House Southampton Hampshire

Artist

Terri Waters

Medium

Photograph

Description

This 13th century merchant's house is one of the few surviving medieval townhouses in England. The house has been restored to what it might have looked like in the 14th century.
The house was built in 1290 by John Fortin, a wine merchant involved in trade with France. It was used both as a residence for Fortin and his family, and as a storehouse and shop.
Damage from a German bomb in 1940 laid bare the medieval structure of the house. Later additions have been removed, restoring it to the way it would have looked in the mid-14th century, with replica furniture to reflect how the house residents lived and worked.
The design is typical of a medieval merchant's dwelling, with a narrow street frontage, an undercroft for storing wine at a relatively constant temperature, and a projecting first floor jutting out over the street, supported on wooden posts.
Archaeology has revealed that the southwest corner of the building collapsed in the middle of the 14th century, perhaps during the French rad of 1338, when many merchant's buildings in the French Street area of Southampton were destroyed.

Uploaded

September 26th, 2015